Many people describe their programs as student-led, but at American Fork High School in Utah, the marching band is just that. According to Director of Bands Orien Landis, “Our student leadership team essentially runs the band program. During the marching band season, the leadership team organizes and trains students in everything from music to marching fundamentals.”
Landis and his team created several training sessions to help students understand how to run sectionals, rehearse music effectively and communicate well with their peers. He acknowledges that training for leadership requires a lot of time at the start of the season, but “it pays dividends throughout the year. During leadership meetings, students report on progress, which helps hold everyone accountable. When staff and director availability is limited, empowering students is essential to their success,” Landis exclaims.
He took student leadership training even further with the Mountain West Leadership Institute. “During COVID, we needed a way to continue training our student leadership,” Landis explains. “We partnered with Utah Bandmasters and have run the leadership institute for four years now. Last year, we served over 250 students with leadership training from Utah, Idaho, Colorado and Nevada. We see this program continuing for years to come as a way to provide an affordable opportunity for leadership training for students.”
For marching fundamentals, Landis and American Fork’s visual caption head, Peter Bates, developed a seven-week course that all first-year marching students are required to take. This course includes a series of progressively detailed videos, along with questions and video assignments. “Students come to the first rehearsal with a solid understanding of how we want them to move,” he explains. ”This means rehearsals focus more on reviewing the material from the videos rather than teaching it from scratch.”
This approach empowers first-year students and provides a more rewarding experience for older students because the band can progress faster at the start of the season. “We began this process about five years ago and have refined it over time. I believe the results speak for themselves, as the program as a whole has seen significant improvements during this period,” he says proudly.
Surround yourself with good people, and you will learn and grow from the best — Landis takes this principle to heart. He credits the other directors in the program — Director of Percussion Dana Slabaugh, Junior High Director of Bands McKayla Wolf and Administrative Assistant Allison Dean — who work tirelessly to ensure the success of the program and students “I truly believe that we’re in the business of helping students develop attributes that will benefit them throughout life,” Landis says. “Music is simply the medium we use to teach them how to become amazing adults.”
